Not Grievous at all
by Legion Fardreamer
Summary: A cyborg relic hunter for the Galactic Historical Society, a Cathar martial artist, and a Twi'lek con artist. What kind of trouble could they possibly get into, you ask? (Sigh) You're new around here, aren't you? As always, love the universe, like telling stories, making no money, and too broke to sue.


It was a strange state of affairs that brought me to where I now stand. Allow me to explain. I was once a human male named Declan Pardesh. Obviously, when you look at me, you may think that I have gone insane. I say obviously because I no longer look human.

I am quite literally more machine than man, due to a bizarre set of circumstances. To make things even more bizarre, I now greatly resemble a villain from our history. I consider it the height of irony that my interest in a historical rarity not only caused my near-death, but also saved my life.

Ah, but I said I would explain. Forgive me. I do wander a bit.

I was on the planet Vassek, exploring what I had been told was once the lair of the notorious general of the droid army, General Grievous. I have always had a yearning to explore, and I am fascinated with the Clone Wars. There was just so much going on back then! So many stories to be told!

Unfortunately, this story had teeth, and used them on me.

I had made it a good ways in, and had managed to get to the control center. However, I was not expecting to open the door and have a mine go off directly in front of me. I don't actually remember what happened after that. Not until I woke up, at any rate.

According to the droid doctor that patched me back together, the explosion blew off my arms, legs, and most of my face. Had the doctor not used the spare parts he had on hand to put me back into some semblance of order, I would have been crippled and blind for the rest of my life. Assuming that I survived at all, that is.

There's not much left of me now. My head, what's left of it, some of my internal organs, and that's pretty much it. Everything else is some form of droid system, from my photoreceptor eyes down to my magnetized feet/hands.

It took a few days for me to become accustomed to my new body, especially the balance and extra height, but once I did, I got down to some serious exploring. Most everything of value had been looted, it seemed, but a little searching allowed me to find something the looters missed.

It was with a great deal of surprise that I found the hidden passageway that led to a hangar. This got my hopes up, as I had discovered that while I was being turned into a cyborg, thieves had stolen my ship. As I clanked my way down the corridor, I saw that there was indeed a ship in the hangar.

A very OLD ship.

It was a Dynamic class freighter, which I had to admit was a very good ship, even in present times, but considering that the design was over four thousand years old, I had my doubts about it's functionality. Nonetheless, I boarded the ship, inspecting what would wind up becoming my home.

It's condition, while not exactly pristine, was obviously well maintained. What should have been the port dormitory had been converted into what I assumed to be captain's quarters. They were quite spacious, and even had several sets of spare parts. I had the unnerving feeling that I would need them sooner or later, and moved out of the room to inspect the rest of the ship, forcing myself not to shudder.

I received another shock when I checked the other dormitory, on the starboard side of the ship. Standing next to the bunks, powered down and inactive, were two Magnaguard droids. If I had any doubts as to who this ship was for, they were dashed in that instant.

I had found a bloody treasure trove! Those droids alone were worth a fortune on the open market, and even more on the black market. I decided to keep them for the near future. Should I suddenly need the extra funds, I knew what I could do. I did store them in the utility closet, though.

No reason to be careless.

I completed my inspection of the ship, and realized that I had hit a snag. While the ship was fully fueled, there were no usable ship stores on board. Some kind of local vermin had gotten aboard, and gotten into the supplies. Water would not be a problem, but food would be a necessity. Of course, I could simply make a short hop to the nearest system, and top everything off. I might be a little hungry when I get there, but I would survive.

Quickly inputting the coordinates for Bespin, I took off into the stars.

The cantina was a bit classier than some that I had frequented in my younger days, but it was still a hive of scum and villainy, as the saying goes. Creatures of every race I had ever seen, and a few that I hadn't, were ordering drinks, listening to music, or watching the dancers.

I had to admit that the dancers were a little distracting. Very lithe, very fit, and very close to nude, the human dancer ground against the Togrutan dancer in such a way as to set a man's mind afire with fantasy. However, when I saw her, the dancers ceased to be any sort of distraction whatsoever.

My cloak hid my body from view quite well, and the drink I had ordered was on the table in front of me. As I had yet to figure out how to eat or drink anything, it was untouched. A shame, considering that it was my favorite non-alcoholic drink. A Corellian Fizz Bang. The bartender, a human male, snickered at me when I ordered it. His amusement at my expense ended when I reached out to pay for it, and he saw my droid armor. He actually gulped at the sight of me, his eyes wide. I snatched up the glass, and went to my table.

As I was saying, I noticed her coming into the cantina. She was a Cathar female, and quite possibly the most lovely creature I had ever seen. Her skin was covered in a very short fuzz that was beige in color, with darker beige stripes highlighting it. Her eyes were a piercing green, and she had no mane, which gave her the appearance of being bald. Her figure captivated me, and I found myself watching her with rapt attention.

I watched her hips sway as she padded over to a table where several males of differing species were playing some card game or other. Leaning over, she whispered into the ear of an orange Twi'lek, who began looking a bit alarmed. I sighed in disappointment as I leaned back in my seat.

"She has a criminal boyfriend," I whispered to myself. "It figures."

Deciding to go back to watching the dancers, I settled my cloak more firmly about myself. A slight ruckus at the entrance to the cantina grabbed my attention once more. A pack of Nikto thugs came in, and were looking around at all the patrons. They seemed to settle on the Twi'lek.

I had to admit a bit of indifference to the Twi'lek's plight, figuring that whatever he had done to annoy the Niktos was going to be the last thing he did, and perhaps the lovely Cathar would need some comforting.

And then I noticed the jacket that the smallest thug was wearing.

My jacket, last seen aboard my old ship.

I would have been smiling broadly, were I still capable of it. I had just found my ship thieves, and I meant to have some revenge for being stranded.

I thought about just throwing my table at the group, and flattening them with it, but as my motivator unit was not up to spec, my physical strength was nowhere near where it should have been. I would never have been able to throw the table the distance required to hit any of them. Therefore, I went with Plan B.

Plan B was a bit less physically taxing, and involved throwing my emptied drink container at the head of the closest Nikto. The glass smashed into the side of his head, actually stunning the slime for a moment. As it turns out, the Cathar lady needed no other prompting, and swiftly began wiping the floor with every one of her opponents with an impressive display of martial arts. While she was cleaning the chronometers of five well armed thugs with nothing more than her bare hands, I made my way out of the cantina. I'd had enough of revenge AND girl watching for one night, and decided to go back to my ship.

A few hours later, I was getting prepared to leave the system. I still needed to report back to the Historical Society, and let them know that I was going to take some leave in order to get myself properly looked at by a medical specialist, and quite possibly, a decent droid mechanic.

It was with some surprise that I found myself looking out my cockpit window into the faces of my Cathar lady and her Twi'lek companion. They were both carrying backpacks, and seemed to be surprised to see me as well. I began the warm up procedures, and headed for the entry ramp.

"Can I be of some service to you, gentlebeings?"

The Twi'lek was the one who spoke next, saying "Uh, yeah. We were looking for Captain Pardesh. We were told he was taking charters back to Coruscant. Are you his droid secretary?"

I sighed, having a feeling that that question was going to be a frequent one in the days ahead.

"I'm not a droid. I'm a cyborg. Captain Declan Pardesh, at your service."

They looked at each other, and then back at me.

"I'm Aylem Tenn, and the lady beside me is Norshana. If that offer of charter is still good, we've got the credits, and we're ready to go."

I nodded, and said "Well enough, and a pleasure to meet you both. The procedure is half payment in advance, and the remainder upon arrival. You don't pay, you'll have local law waiting for you in the hangar bay. Are we clear?"

I saw a bit of a gleam in Norshana's eyes, and was forced to wonder what it was about. Deciding to table it for the moment, we completed our transaction, and boarded the ship.

Two days into the hyperspace jump, Norshana joined me in the cockpit, taking up the copilot's seat.

"Everything ship shape, Captain Droid?"

I merely glared at her, not bothering to give voice to what I thought of the nickname. She snickered, and settled back in the seat with a sigh. I faced out the window again, attempting to resume my meditation. To be perfectly honest, I was a little worried. I hadn't been even the slightest bit hungry, and still hadn't figured out how I was supposed to take in nutrients, or even if I needed to.

A few moments of silence later found my photoreceptors roving over her very well defined, and very feminine form. Abrasive attitude or not, she was still a vision of beauty.

"You know, I never got the chance to thank you for distracting that Nikto back on Bespin."

I grunted, and quietly said "You don't need to thank me. I had my own reasons for going after those thieving sleemos."

She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye.

"You know, you don't seem to be the type to go in for excessive body modification. I'm guessing you were in some kind of accident. I'm guessing the doctors only had those strange droid parts, and a few cybernetic link ups, and decided to use those. Am I right?"

Sighing again, I answered her question.

"Not exactly. I'm an explorer by trade, working for the Galactic Historical Society. They send me out to sites to check out what's there, and then I report back with my findings. They use my reports to determine whether or not to fund an expedition to the site. This time around, I was sent out to inspect what was supposed to be a castle belonging to a Separatist general. Specifically, General Grievous, the general of the droid armies. Not long after I landed, those Niktos stole my ship, stranding me there. I starting exploring the castle, looking for a communication device that I could use to contact the Society. I got as far as the outer door of the control room."

Turning to face me, her expression was one of rapt attention. I'd never thought that my travels might be interesting to anyone besides myself and the Society. It was a strange feeling to have someone paying attention to me like that. She prodded me to continue.

"So what happened? Did you get horribly maimed in some epic battle with leftover droids?"

I shook my head, more in amazement at her imagination than in denial of her idea.

"No. In fact, it was the leftover droid that saved my life. You see, when I opened the door to the control center, I set off a booby trap of some sort. I'm thinking it was a mine or something. At any rate, it went off right in front of me. It took off my arms, my legs, and most of my face. Had the general's droid doctor not been awakened by the blast, I would have died right then. As it was, I think it was still pretty close. I was unconscious for the actual procedure, thank the Force. That droid didn't believe in anything so mundane as anesthetic. It used Grievous' spare parts, and the photoreceptors from another droid to rebuild me. Unfortunately, all the parts were fairly old and not very well maintained. I'm going to need maintenance soon, or I won't be any good to anyone. I shouldn't complain, I suppose. I could still be trapped on that planet, burned, blind, and dying."

"You are a survivor," she said with a slight smile. "I like that."

"So are you," I replied. "I saw you thrashing those men as I was leaving the cantina. You probably saved your boyfriend's life, you know."

"He's not my boyfriend. We are just good friends and traveling companions. We have never been more than that, and probably never will be. Do not get me wrong. He is attractive, and he is a survivor, as well, but I look for more in a mate than that."

I chewed that over for a bit.

"A mate. Hmm. That sounds rather nice, doesn't it? I don't think I've ever met anyone I could consider a mate," I said wistfully. "I can't imagine anyone wanting to share a life like mine with me. Especially now, what with my change and all. What female would want a droid for a life partner? Let alone one who's little more than a glorified relic hunter. My line of work doesn't really attract many people. Long bouts of travel, followed by bits of traipsing around in dirty old ruins, or days or even weeks of researching archives and records caches for even a hint of where I'm supposed to find whatever it is I'm supposed to find. There's also the obvious risk of running into traps the way I did."

Norshana gave me a look that was unreadable.

"You sound as if you've given up on it," she said.

"Well, I don't exactly have anything to offer a mate. I'll hardly ever be home, I'm physically incapable of being anyone's lover, and there's a very good chance that one day I won't ever be coming home again. I'm sure if I were interested in taking some sort of trophy wife who didn't care about anything but inheriting my estate, I could find that easily enough."

With a gentle smile, she said "You want more than that. I sense that you are actually the romantic type."

Tiring of the subject, I whispered "I used to be. The only reaction I'd get from a woman now is horror. That, I can do without."

I turned back to the window, and tried to resume my meditation. Norshana was no longer smiling as she left the cockpit.

We arrived on Coruscant with no fanfare, and thankfully, no more pirate gang entanglements. I received the other half of my charter payment, and bid my passengers farewell. I hailed a speeder cab for the Galactic Historical Society. I still had to deliver my report, and then I would be off for the nearest hospital facility. I wanted to do it quickly, as I was getting tired again, and wanted to sleep.

Soon enough, I was being dropped off at the Historical Society's main office building, and I sighed with relief. I loved the place dearly, even if I didn't always see eye to eye with some of the inhabitants.

"If you're looking for droid maintenance, you're in the wrong building. It's two blocks over."

The old Rodian that just spoke to me being the primary trouble maker in question.

"Good afternoon, Griplin. I see your manners have not improved."

His eyes, already bulging, looked as if they would come out at the sound of my voice.

"Pardesh?! By the Force, man! What have you done to yourself?"

"Something that I'm hoping can be undone. Where are the others? I need to make my report so I can go to the hospital and see about getting my human body back."

Griplin merely gaped at me, and I decided repeating myself would do no good. I left him standing there, and went in search of the other members.

After about twenty minutes of searching, I finally figured out that everyone else was gone for the day. Snarling in irritation, I left for the hospital. My day was turning sour very quickly, and I wanted some good news.

My good news wasn't so good. The doctors couldn't really do anything for me, outside of pointing out that my organic components were severely malnourished, as well as burned. They called in a cybernetics specialist, who was able to point out my nutrient intake port for me. He also let me know that if I didn't get an oil bath soon, I wasn't going to be very mobile.

I sat up, and saw and heard sparks from inside my chest cavity. Then a small explosion froze me in place. I could hear and see, and I could still speak, but I was otherwise paralyzed. The specialist leaned over me, waving away smoke, and said "Hmm. Blown motivator unit. You'll want to get that replaced, as well."

Thankful that my insurance would cover my medical expenses, which seemed to be climbing as I watched, I gave a nurse all my information.

I was feeling quite fit as I walked out of the hospital a few hours later. As I made my way back to my ship, I saw that I had visitors.

I admit that I was both surprised and happy to see my former passengers again, and I made my greetings to them both.

"Are you looking for charter again? I have to warn you, it may be a few days before I leave again, and I may not be going the way you want to go."

I noticed that Aylem was sporting a darkening bruise on his cheek, and was looking a little lost. It was Norshana that spoke for the duo this time.

"It does not matter. We have nowhere else to go, and wonder-drunk here has ruined any welcome we might have had. We are willing to go wherever you are going, and as before, we can pay. He managed to get that done, at least." That last part was muttered under her breath, but with my enhanced hearing, I caught it.

"Well," I replied. "Welcome aboard, then. I was just going to bed, and I'll be restocking some of my provisions in the morning. We'll probably be leaving after I file my report to the GHS and get new orders. That alright with you?"

"Quite acceptable," she said with a slight smile.

We all boarded, and I went straight to bed.

I was awakened by the sound of someone pounding on my cabin door. Looking at the chronometer at my bedside, I felt decidedly like strangling someone. I had been asleep for only an hour. Opening my door, I got an eyeful of pretty Cathar in a diaphanous nightgown, which improved my mood tremendously.

"There are men outside yelling to see you. I thought you should know."

With that, she turned on her heel, and walked back to the dormitory on the other side of the ship. The view through that gown was thoroughly breathtaking, and I was having to really work at getting my mind back on track. What I really wanted to do was follow that lovely creature, drag her back to my cabin, and do something truly mind-shattering for the both of us. A pity I was physically incapable of that sort of thing.

My good mood ended as quickly as it had begun, and I stomped my way to the exit ramp.

As it opened, and I saw who my visitors were, I glared at them all. I couldn't be truly angry at them, since they were all good men, and they meant well. The leader of the group was like a father to me, and had encouraged my love of history and exploration all my life.

"Gentlemen, I'm sure this could have waited until a more reasonable hour of the morning."

Director Klennensh, a rail thin and elderly human, stepped forward at the sound of my voice.

"I had to see it for myself, boy. It's really true. You really did unearth the lair of General Grievous. You even kept some trophies, I see."

Feeling my temper start to get the better of me, I am less than proud to say that my next words were less than kind.

"Trophies?! Is that what you call getting my limbs and face blown off? Collecting trophies?! Why you sanctimonious old slobber jockey! I'll have you know-"

"Easy, boy," he interrupted. "I'm only teasing. I know you wouldn't do that. I practically raised you after your mother passed, may the Force be with her." Giving me an appraising look, he said "You stopped by to give us your report, but you missed us. How about you give it to me now?"

Knowing I wasn't getting any more sleep until I did, I sighed in defeat. I beckoned them in, and said "We'll have to keep it down. I've got passengers, and I don't want to wake them up again."

I was a little shocked to see that Norshana was seated in the main hold. She smiled beatifically, and gave herself a stretch, arching her back and showing off what the Force had graced her with. I was actually a little glad that I no longer had a mouth to speak of. It would have been more than a little embarrassing to have her see me turn into a drooling idiot. As it was, several of my employers caught the show, and were reduced to such a state.

"Ahem. Gentlebeings, might I introduce Norshana? She's one of the two passengers I mentioned earlier. Norshana, allow me to introduce my esteemed employers, the Galactic Historical Society. The skinny human is Director Klennensh. The Rodian beside him is Griplin. The Gran there is Rask Eeng, and the heavyset human is Dorbren Kirkland."

Klennensh was the first to recover himself, and the look he gave me made me want to hit him.

"Dear lady, I think I speak for us all when I say that you are absolutely beautiful. It is truly a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Her smile turned sultry, and what was supposed to be a report session turned into a bit of a celebration. I still gave my report, of course, but Director Klennensh decided it would be a good idea to celebrate my survival, and return to civilized space. I told him I wasn't so certain about the civilized part.

He thought that was hilarious, and oddly enough, so did Norshana. Aylem had awakened by that point, and made instant friends with the GHS members. They wound up beginning a friendly game of cards, and a bottle of Corellian whiskey was produced from somewhere. It became a bit louder after that, and I decided that I was done for the night.

"I have an early day tomorrow, boys. I'm going to bed. Good night."

As I headed back to my cabin, I caught Griplin muttering drunkenly at Norshana. I couldn't quite make out what it was he said, but her response was clear.

"I'm terribly sorry, Mister Griplin, but I'm taken."

THAT stopped me in my tracks. I heard Aylem say "Norshana, you minx! You've finally fallen for my charms! I always knew you'd be mine one day!"

"Ha ha, Aylem. That's funny. Get your arm off of me, or I'll tear it off and make you eat it."

It took me a second to realize that I had turned around, and was stomping into the main hold. The scene I beheld when I got there prodded me into action. I didn't even stop as I walked past Aylem towards the the starboard dormitory. I simply grabbed the front of his tunic, and dragged him away. I threw him into the bunk none to gently, and returned to the main hold.

Upon my return, Norshana sidled up to my side, and took my left hand in both of hers. She turned that sexy smile towards the men, and said firmly "Gentlemen, the captain and I are rather tired. I'm sure you can find your way out. It was a pleasure meeting you all."

Griplin looked almost as perplexed as I felt, but as I had no facial expression, my confusion was a bit harder to read.

"I don't get it. How're they gonna... I mean, he ain't got no-"

Rask smacked him in the back of the head, and growled "Oh, do shut up!" In a gentler voice that he directed towards me, he said "Good night, you two." I just barely heard him mutter something in Huttese that sounded an awful lot like "Lucky little bastard."

As everyone else left the ship, the director turned back to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Everything else aside, I'm very glad you made it back, son. Even if it wasn't entirely in one piece, you did make it back, and I thank the Force for that. Good night, Declan."

I pulled him into a hug, and whispered "Good night, Dad, and thanks."

He chuckled warmly, and we let go of each other. I watched him walk off into the night, and then closed up the ship.

Turning back to face Norshana, I saw that she was smirking at me.

"What?"

"'Good night, Dad?' You never mentioned that Director Klennensh was your father."

I motioned her back into the main hold, and once we were seated, I explained.

"He's my foster father, actually. He's also the only father I've ever known. I never knew my real father, and my mother died when I was very young. The Society is the only family I've ever really had, and I love them all dearly. Griplin can be a pain, but that's family for you."

Her smile became gentle.

"Indeed, it is. Come, my love. I truly am tired, and wish to get back to sleep."

While I, admittedly, was reveling in those words, I had to put my two credits worth in on that point.

"Uh, about that. When exactly did we become a couple? I thought that was just to keep the others from groping you."

Her response was to pull her gown over her head, and fling it onto my head. By the time I removed it, she was already walking toward my cabin. I bowed to the inevitable, but had the distinct feeling that I was going to regret it.

I couldn't help but let my photoreceptors drift over my lady as we left the ship to acquire some of the things I would need in my new life as a cyborg. The night had been very educational about some of the things I could do, and I discovered just how handy being able to split my arms from two to four could be. While the whole thing was admittedly one sided for most things, I felt a certain smug pleasure at knowing I could make a woman scream my name using nothing more than my hands.

Tearing my eyes away from my new lover, I mentally reviewed the list of things I was going to need.

First off, I was going to need a couple of droids. An astromech to help me maintain the ship, and a medical droid for my rather modest sickbay. The astromech would also be a boon to me in that it would help maintain ME.

Secondly, I would need to install an oil bath. This would be for both myself and the droids, and obviously was a necessity.

Third, I was going to do some upgrades to the ship. A faster hyperdrive, while not a necessity, would be a real help in my work. It would also reduce my expenses for ship stores if I could get where I needed to go a little faster. I was also going to get some shields installed on this bird, and THAT was a necessity.

Fourth, there were a couple of things that I wanted to pick up from Grievous' lair. Namely, a load of those spare parts he had hanging up in his medical wing, but there was also one other thing, and that was something I felt was essential to keeping this ship from going the way of the other one.

Fifth, and finally, I had realized that I had neglected to name my new vessel. I had registered it with the registration bureau, but with a set of letters and numbers. That struck me as being a little cold. She deserved a name, and it was high time I gave her one. I resolved to contact the bureau about that as soon as I could think of a name.

I thought back to my ship as we wandered over to the droid dealership. Aylem, whom I wondered how he was going to take this change in his partner's status, was still in the dormitory sleeping off the booze he'd ingested the night before.

Strangely enough, dealing with the droid representative was much easier for me than dealing with the pretty Twi'lek dealer who kept giving us looks of disgust. I paid for my purchases, and gave the droid the docking bay number for delivery. Having finished with that, we headed over to another store that had survival gear. While I was buying the droids and the oil bath, I realized that I was going to need a food processor, since I could no longer take in solid food. A few other things wouldn't hurt either. Since Norshana had decided that we were to be mated, she was going to need to be outfitted for a life in the field.

By the time we left that store, we each had a new utility belt, I had a new food processor, and we both had matching cloaks. Most of the clothing she possessed was already made for durability, aside from a few items she kept for certain occasions, so she needed little in the way of clothes.

Our last stop for the day was to a local junk dealer named Gatling, whom I had dealt with before. He was quite trustworthy, and if there was a problem with a piece that you bought, he dealt fairly with you.

As we entered the shop, the besalisk owner came out, wiping his hands on an oil stained rag. He took us in at a glance, and smiled broadly.

"Welcome to my shop! What can I get for you folks today? I'm running a special on deflector shields. Twenty-five percent off the tag price!"

Had I been capable of it, I would have been grinning.

"Glad to hear you say that, Gatling. I'm in need of some shields, as it so happens. I also needed to talk with you about a better hyperdrive for my ship."

The smile vanished off of his face, and his eyes threatened to bug out of his head.

"Mister Declan?! What-... How-... Oh my stars."

He couldn't miss the amusement in my voice as I said "Indeed."

Before he could start sputtering again, I continued.

"It's a long story, old friend. Suffice it to say, I suffered an accident, and this was the result. Now then, you were going to tell me about hyperdrives? I need one for an old Dynamic class light freighter."

At the mention of the style of ship, Gatling's eye lit up. Did I mention that he was the one who taught me the joys of tinkering with mechanical stuff?

"A Dynamic? Now that's a ship for the ages! Heh! No shields on 'em, but tough as they come. A lot of folks think they were the ancestor to the YT models, and I'm inclined to agree. For their day, they were the best ships off the line. Easy to modify, hard to bash up, and just a good all around utilitarian ship. Where'd you pick it up?"

I snickered a bit.

"Same place I picked up my new body. So can you help me out?"

Gatling barked out a laugh, and said "Sure can! I just got in a hyperdrive from an old Nubian freighter. Owner junked the whole thing, and went with another design. He could have upgraded the original for a lot cheaper, but he didn't want to listen to an old junk man like me. Go figure. Anyway, you wanna look at the hyperdrive, and see if it kicks you?"

I looked over at Norshana, who shrugged, and then back at Gatling.

"Absolutely."

By the time I returned to my ship, everything had been delivered, and was waiting in the cargo hold. Gatling would be coming by the next day to help install the hyperdrive, and I would have additional help in the form of my new astromech droid.

The droid was one of the new R8 series, specifically R8-X7, and upon activation, he immediately started roaming the ship, fixing whatever he came across.

I set up the medical droid in sickbay, and left him there. I didn't see the need to turn him on until he was needed, and since noone was hurt, he wasn't needed just then.

Everything else was put away or installed as necessity dictated, and even Aylem lent a hand when he could. He seemed to take the mating of his partner and I with grace, but I could see that he was disappointed. I had a feeling that we might not have him around for much longer, and that was sad. While we shopped, Norshana had regaled me with tales of their exploits together. Aylem had a singular talent for trouble, and getting out of it. He was also an exceptional gambler, and had kept them in credits throughout their travels.

She had, in turn, kept him from getting killed when things went sour. Her skill in the martial arts was exceptional, although she was quite humble about it, which told me that she was a much more dangerous fighter than she let on.

Once everything was in it's place, I settled in for the evening. I made use of the new food processor, and filled my intake with the bland looking paste. I assumed it was bland, at any rate. Having no sense of taste was both a blessing and a curse.

As I sat down in the cockpit to enjoy the view of the sunset, Norshana joined me, a mug of caf in her hands.

"So, my darling droid captain, where are we bound next?"

I speared her with a look, and growled "You'll be bound over my knee, if you don't stop calling me a droid."

Her smile could have melted durasteel.

"Promises, promises," she said, taking a sip from her cup.

I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Well, we'll be going back to Grievous' lair for a couple of things, and then I'll have to see what the Society wants me to look for next. Why? You getting bored?"

She snorted.

"Hardly, darling. I am truly enjoying not being chased from planet to planet by thugs and pirates. I am merely curious. That is all."

I sighed contentedly.

"Well, consider your curiosity satisfied. We'll be leaving for the moons of Vassek once the new hyperdrive is installed. That will be tomorrow evening, at the latest. Once Gatling, R8-X7, and myself get started on that particular project, it won't take long."

She sat back in her seat, and sighed as well. After a few moments, she said "So what did you have planned for tonight, if anything?"

I thought that one over, and after a moment, an idea struck me.

"How would you like to go see a museum?"

Aylem expressed little interest in joining us, so after hailing a passing speeder cab, we headed to the GHS building. Once there, I attempted to give Norshana a tour of the facility, but it was a bit difficult to keep to one thread of lecture when she kept bouncing all over the place. She looked like a delighted child, darting from one exhibit to another, as we walked through the museum portion of the building.

Finally, I led her to my office.

Her eyes widened at all the holopics I had of different locations I had scouted for the Society.

"You are very well traveled, my love. Is there anywhere you have not been in this galaxy?"

I laughed as I sat behind my desk.

"Oh, there are plenty of places I've never been, but that number is dwindling. In all truth, there are several planets that I'd like to visit, in order to put together a puzzle I've been working on."

"A puzzle? What puzzle is that?"

"Darth Revan. You see, everyone knows that after Revan returned from wherever it was that he went after the Mandalorian wars, he fell to the dark side. Then he lost his memory, and rejoined the light. Even after he regained his memories, he remained true to the Jedi teachings. What I want to know is where he went. What did he find out there in the wilds of Unknown Space that drove him to do the things he did? Then there's the Star Forge. Where exactly was that? I know the Old Republic destroyed the facility, but I want to know where it was in the first place. Records show that Revan was able to find it again by seeking out certain planets that had star charts marking its location. Each of those charts were incomplete, but when put together, they show the way."

Norshana glanced at me in confusion.

"Why would you wish to find such a place of evil? I know the story of Revan, and the Cathar Jedi named Juhani that he brought back to the light while on his travels. She is a hero among our people, but her accounts of what they found there in that place speak of evil beyond all reason."

I got up from my chair, and paced over to where she stood by the holopics.

"Norshana, part of the reason that I do what I do is that I firmly believe that when a society starts to forget their history, eventually they will repeat that history. The way I see it, if I can remind people of the evil things, we can eventually put them aside in favor of the good. I want to help people learn from the mistakes of the past, and as much as I may dislike this droid shell of mine, I consider it a small price to pay for bringing all people back to the light."

She took me into her arms, and as I held her in mine, I realized that if the whole galaxy ended in the next few moments, I could still die a happy man. I had her, so I needed nothing else.


End file.
